Today, a plurality of water repellent finishing chemicals is used in textile processing which are classified into the wash-resistant and the not wash-resistant waterproofing agents on the one hand and into fluorocarbon-containing and not fluorocarbon-containing waterproofing agents on the other hand. Another group comprises the silicone-containing waterproofing agents. The use of silicone-containing waterproofing agents is also known in combination with fluorocarbon resins. Heavy metal-containing fatty acid derivatives, particularly paraffins with organometallic compounds, are employed alone and in combination with fluorocarbon resins in the finishing of textile fibers, tissues and fabrics.
Common to all waterproofing agents is their more or less apolar, water insoluble character due to which they are used in the form of emulsions or microemulsions, respectively.
Nowadays, waterproofing agents which are not wash-resistant are of less importance since also the quality of the water repellent finishing effects achieved by them does no longer comply with today's standards and requirements.
The most widely used products and the finishings produced by them, respectively, are based on reactive, lipid modified α-aminoalkylation products, fluorocarbon resins, and silicone derivatives or the mixtures thereof. According to present processing technique, best water repellent finishing effects can only be achieved using fluorocarbon resins or in combination with lipid modified, reactive, pre-polycondensed α-aminoalkylation products (extenders) and self-crosslinking binders (boosters).
Lipid modified, reactive group-containing compounds refers to all those compounds which contain at least one reactive group in addition to one or more covalently bound alkyl groups (C8–C25). Preferably used lipid modified α-aminoalkylation products are N-methylol compounds of fatty amines, fatty amides as well as formaldehyde-methylolated urea derivatives which may also contain partially etherified methylol functions.
Due to the growing environmental awareness of the consumers on the one hand and increasingly strict legal regulations on the other hand there is an increasing demand for textile finishings which meet even the latest ecological standards. This means that both the fiber materials used and the colorants and finishing agents must be environmentally friendly in the broadest sense. The consumer demands textiles which may be worn safely. This means in the case of clothing that they should be non-irritant and free from allergenic substances but at the same time fulfill the highest demands for wearing comfort and functionality.
During textile manufacturing it is necessary to ensure the handling safety of the starting materials and the finishing and auxiliary agents used. Also the safe disposal of the waste chemicals, waste waters, and outgoing air arising upon production and processing is called for. And eventually, in the sense of a closed system, the textiles should be disposed of or recycled with as low environmental pollution as possible.
Taken together, these demands have already today resulted in an outlawing of many dyestuffs, halogenated and silicone-containing chemicals as well as the silicones themselves, as used e.g. in the water repellent finishings of clothing and technical fabrics. In particular, halogenated finishing agents, if used, result in waste water components which are difficult to dispose of as well as in problems with the disposal of the technical textiles and clothing finished therewith themselves after their serviceable life has expired.